New Actions

Protecht – Risk Review

For: Principals and CEO Risk and Control Owners and Risk Administrators
Due: 1 September 2025
Contact: John Barrington (barringtonj01@dow.catholic.edu.au)
First notice

It is now time to conduct the second Risk Enterprise Review for 2025.

This week, an automated email reminder will be sent by Protecht to all Risk and Control Owners and Risk Administrators. 

Action: When completing the review, please remember to change the Risk Review Due Date and the Control Next Test Date to 1 March 2026 as an indication that you have completed the review.

Please access this Resource Sheet to assist your completion of the review in the Protecht database tool.

CEDoW Step into Teaching Scholarship Program

For: Secondary and K-12 principals 
Due: Now
Contact: Sherryn Moore (sherryn.moore@dow.catholic.edu.au)
First notice

Attention: Year 12 students considering a career in teaching.

“Teaching is a noble profession that shapes the character, calibre and future of an individual.”
— Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Action: Principals are asked to share the following information with staff for promotion to students and inclusion in parent/carer communications.

Applications open Week 3.

Students may apply for one of the following:

• CEDoW Step into Teaching Scholarship Program
• CEDoW Step into Teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Scholarship Program

For more information, students are encouraged to speak with their TAPs Coordinator. Further details are also available on the Catholic Education Office website.

Applications close on Friday Week 9 — 19 September 2025.

ESS Leave Approvals Refresher

For: Principals and CEO leaders
Due: Now
Contact: Pat Murray (patrick.murray@dow.catholic.edu.au)
First notice

Action: Principals and CEO leaders are asked to read the information below.

Most leave is submitted by staff through our Employee Self Service (known as ESS). Some complex leave types, such as parental leave or leave cashout requests, require a form. This year, these are being digitised as part of changes we are making to improve the employee and manager experience, but for now, they reside in Gateway as PDF forms.

If you receive leave requests via ESS, there are some key things to be aware of when you consider approvals.

Dates and leave types — As the manager/approver it is critical that you review whether the employee applied for the correct type of leave and was/is planned to be absent on the dates requested.

Retrospective LWOP — Backdated or retrospective leave without pay causes an overpayment to the employee. As this is an employee benefit, Payroll will notify the employee when the leave is processed, but will not undergo a formal overpayment process unless the overpayment exceeds one fortnight's pay.

Sufficient balances — Requests and approvals will error if an employee does not have sufficient balance at the time of the leave. Employees cannot wait until more leave is accrued. The system will always refer back to the balance at the time the leave was taken. If you would like to request an exception, please send it to payrolladmin@dow.catholic.edu.au for review.

Other errors — From time to time, other errors or issues can occur. Please contact payrolladmin@dow.catholic.edu.au with a screenshot if you receive an unexpected error. The most common are:

• The leave already exists — please reject the request as this means Payroll has processed a manual request for these dates; or
• Leave is beyond the 'planned termination date' — this means a contract expiry date exists that needs to be actioned by Payroll before leave can be approved. Please contact payrolladmin@dow.catholic.edu.au with details of the request.

What happens after leave is approved — Most leave types are processed directly in Payroll when you approve them. This includes special leave, sick leave, annual leave, community service leave, time in lieu and compassionate/bereavement leave. Complex leave types like long service leave, unpaid leave, jury leave, renewal leave, parental and examination/study leave require further review and processing by Payroll

Pay Processing Lockout — Approvals are locked from pay cutoff until the pay is closed (usually Saturday to Tuesday of pay week). In that period, the 'approve' button will not appear.

If you have any questions about leave approvals, entitlements or this article, please contact Pat Murray, Payroll Manager, at patrick.murray@dow.catholic.edu.au or on 0457 216 318.

Religious Literacy Assessment (RLA) - Term 3 Week 3

Attention Primary Principals and RECs

A reminder that Year 4 students across the Diocese will sit the Religious Literacy Assessment (RLA) via Google Form on Monday 4 August with Tuesday 5 August being the backup date for absent students.

Could RECs please ensure that Year 4 teachers have all necessary information and documentation. The Administration Guide for the Religious Literacy Assessment can be found here.

For further information regarding RLA please email Kate Jennett or call her on  0418 611 266.